Oils from crops such as coconut, oil palm and soybean are used in a range of applications, from cosmetics and make-up to margarine and spreads, and from medicines to animal feed. These oil crops, as they are known, are increasingly consumed and cultivated. This has an impact on the environment. But what exactly is that impact?
A research team led by Stephan Pfister, Professor for Quantitative Sustainability Assessment at ETH Zurich, examined this question. Specifically, the researchers studied the extent to which the increasing cultivation and consumption of oil crops are threatening animal and plant species worldwide. This is the world's first study looking at this issue.
"From the perspective of environmental protection, biodiversity loss is as big a problem as climate change," says Pfister, explaining the motivation behind the study. In it, the researchers analysed global data on production, trade and land use over several decades, combining several models to gauge the influence of oil crops on biodiversity.
The researchers began by compiling global maps of oil crop cultivation based on satellite data, agricultural statistics and global data sets on cultivated land.
They also calculated the extent to which different forms of land use threaten animal and plant species. To do so, they used species loss factors, which indicate how much cultivated areas contribute to global species loss – depending on the region and agricultural intensity.
The researchers also sought to highlight the impact of oil crop cultivation across the global supply chain, explains Pfister. To this end, Pfister and his team linked the already collected data with a global economic model depicting international supply chains – from cultivation via processing to the final product. This illustrates, for example, how soybean from Brazil is fed to animals in China or Europe, thereby ultimately enabling high meat consumption.
Finally, the team analysed how the factors of consumer behaviour, population growth and agricultural efficiency are contributing to the increase in biodiversity loss.
The study examined 19 oil crops. "Three of which caused a particularly large share of the impacts: oil palm, soybean and coconut," says Shuntian Wang, a doctoral student on Pfister's team. Together, they account for some 75 percent of the biodiversity loss caused by oil crops.
At the same time, the study highlights a clear development: between 1995 and 2020, biodiversity loss rose by around 80 percent. But this is not primarily caused by global population growth.
Tropical regions are especially impacted, with agricultural land use causing significant biodiversity loss. This is due not only to the fact that oil crops such as oil palm and coconut are exclusive to these regions but also because they support high biodiversity and typically yield less per unit of land. As a result, there is often a need for agricultural expansion, which can lead to ecosystem destruction, such as deforestation.
These systems are often far away from the demand-side drivers: as the study by Pfister's team shows, more than half of the impacts are attributable to consumption in other countries. The European Union, China and the United States together account for over 80 percent of these externalised impacts. While the EU mainly imports palm oil, China's influence is primarily linked to soybean for animal feed.
Unfortunately, biodiversity loss cannot be halted overnight. The long-term use of agricultural land also puts pressure on ecosystems. "Even if there is no new deforestation, the impact of current agriculture remains," says Pfister.
To alleviate the existing problems, we need more environmentally friendly production, less deforestation and farming practices that protect the soil and the natural environment. Our consumption also needs to change. However, global markets make it difficult to find simple solutions. Demand can quickly shift to other regions. "An important lever is investing in better production and in the protection of ecosystems in countries of origin," says Pfister.
